


Remember You

by mandaestella



Category: Alexbelle
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-18
Updated: 2013-09-18
Packaged: 2018-01-15 22:04:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1320811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mandaestella/pseuds/mandaestella
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex and Isabelle have been happily married for two years, so when Isabelle disappears, it's a shock to everyone. Alex has to do everything he can to find his wife before he loses her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**The last time I saw you, it was raining. It was raining, and you were sitting in the big stuffed chair next to our living room window. You were wearing that big, charcoal-colored sweater, the one that looked like it was swallowing you alive. Your knees were drawn up to your chest, and you were holding a cup of coffee. You were staring out the window at the raindrops racing each other down the window. And I stood there and watched you for a little while. You were so beautiful.**

**When you saw me, you stood up and kissed me goodbye, your breath warm on my cheek and your perfume floating on the air. You told me you loved me. You told me you would see me when I got home from work. And then you went back to the chair, sitting down again, your gaze steady out the window. It was like you saw something else, something bigger, something different than just the view outside our house.**

**I thought about you all day, like I do every day.**

When Alex got home from work, he didn’t think it was out of the ordinary when she wasn’t there. There were a million places she could have been: grocery shopping, at her sister’s, out to a movie, down at the pier. He sat down in her chair, inhaling her scent, trapped in the folds of the chair. He could smell her all around him. It was a calming scent, enough to actually put him to sleep.

It was four hours later when Alex woke up, ten o’clock, and he immediately stood up, calling her name. All of the lights in the house were off. She weren’t anywhere. Her car wasn’t in the garage. And Alex started to panic.

That’s when he saw her wedding ring sitting in the middle of the counter. Her engagement ring was next to it. And that’s when Alex called Isabelle.

Her phone rang four long times. Alex sat there, gripping his phone tightly, on the verge of breaking it. She didn’t answer. He dialed again, and again, and then once more. Nothing. Finally, he hung up, grabbing his coat and running out the door, jumping into his car.

As Alex drove down the dark, rain-soaked coast highway, he dialed her phone again and again, hearing the sound of her voice as it repeatedly sent him to voicemail.

“Hi! You’ve reached Isabelle. I can’t come to the phone right now, so leave a message and I will call you right back.”

Eventually, Alex threw his phone down on the seat next to him, concentrating on the road. He drove until it was light out, stopping everywhere he could think of: the diner they went to all the time when they first started dating, her sister’s house, every hotel in the area. He kept waiting to catch a glimpse of the bright red Audi her parents had given them as a wedding present. But he didn’t see it anywhere.

By the time he got to the Golden Gate Bridge, there was still no sign of her.

**I was standing at the front of the church, Mark, Jack, and Dayo next to me. I was so nervous. And then the music started and everyone stood up and the back doors of the church opened. And you walked in on your dad’s arm, and I couldn’t breathe. You looked beautiful in white.**

**I kept my eyes on you the entire time. Your hair was down around your shoulders, and your cheeks were pink. You came and stood in front of me, handing your flowers behind you to Madeline, and you took my hands, squeezing them three times.**

**I love you.**

**I saw Jackie and Madeline and Amandla standing behind you, holding their flowers, and everyone packed into the church, smiling up at us. I felt your hands warm against mine, and I could feel you shaking just a little bit. I heard your voice floating around me, as you bound yourself to me forever.**

**I, Alexander, take you, Isabelle, to be my beloved wife. I vow to have and to hold you, to honor you, to treasure you, to be at your side in sorrow and in joy. I take you with all your faults and strengths as I offer myself to you with all my faults and strengths. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you as long as we both shall live.**

**And then you moved forward into my arms, and I kissed you, everyone else melting away until it was just us, you and, together for the rest of our lives.**

**“Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you for the first time as husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Ludwig!”**

“Did you check at Madeline’s apartment?”

“Jackie, you are not hearing me. I’ve been everywhere. I’ve checked everywhere. She is gone.”

Alex was sitting on the wall at the point on the Sausalito side of the Golden Gate Bridge. The car was parked, but still on, the driver’s side door wide open. Alex was ready to drive off at a moment’s notice, at a phone call from Madeline or Elina or Isabelle herself, at any sign of his wife. He shifted the phone to his other ear.

“What do you need me to do?” Jackie’s voice, coming through the phone, carried a thread of panic and concern.

Alex scrubbed a hand over his face, looking down at the cold, dark water of the bay. “I don’t know what to do.” His voice broke on the last word, and he went silent. “Jackie, she left me.”

Jackie was quiet for a couple of moments. “Okay.” Alex heard her draw in a deep breath. “Here’s what we’re going to do.”

Twenty minutes later, Alex was back at his house. Jackie had called everyone – Amandla, Leven, Madeline, Dayo, Mark, and Jack. She sent them out to keep looking, and told Alex to sit tight in case Isabelle came home. But he couldn’t just sit there. He couldn’t just sit still and do nothing. Jackie sent Mark over to keep him calm, but Mark was just as worked up as he was.

Because the truth was, Isabelle belonged to all of them. She was the glue that held them all together, and without her, they would be different.

Jackie didn’t ask Alex why Isabelle was gone. Mark didn’t either. In fact, nobody did. And he was glad. Because he knew exactly why she was gone. The problem was, that didn’t matter. It didn’t matter why she had left. What mattered was where she was and how she was doing and why she didn’t talk to Alex. And he sat there on the couch next to Mark, staring blankly out the window, hoping that he would see the lights of her car come around the corner and up the driveway. He hoped that she would walk in the house, telling him she loved him and it was all just a mistake. He needed her to come back.

As he sat there, he began to feel physically sick. His throat was tight; his stomach was in knots; and he had to work hard to control his breathing, because if he didn’t think about it, he might just stop. Alex could feel his heart beating in his chest, and he began to think it was the weirdest thing. Isabelle was his heart. And he began to wonder why he needed a heart, when a heart could just be broken.

**“It’s perfect!” You stepped across the threshold of the house, looking around. The light was streaming in the windows, splashing across the hardwood floors.**

**We had been house shopping for a month now. Ever since the wedding, we had been living in my apartment, all of your boxes and furniture in storage. You wanted the perfect house, and you always used to tell me that you would know when you walked inside. You said you could see our kids running across the floors or playing in the backyard. You wanted a house we could start our family in.**

**“This is it?” I took your hand, squeezing it three times.**

**“This is it.” You pulled me through the house, walking straight to the kitchen and looking out the big bay windows. The backyard was big and grassy, plenty of room for a swingset or a trampoline or a pool, if that’s what you wanted. The backyard was important to you, and living in San Francisco made finding a house with a backyard big enough really difficult. “Come on.”**

**You pulled me up the stairs into one of the bedrooms. “See?” you said to me, pointing. “A crib there, and a changing table there, and a rocking chair right by the window.”**

**I looked down at you, my heart melting. I knew this what you wanted more than anything. “Okay, Belle. Let’s do it.” You wrapped your arms around my waist, tilting your face up to me, and I kissed you as the sunlight poured into our future son or daughter’s room.**

The door to that room is closed now. It hasn’t been opened in a while. And still, Alex sat in the living room, eyes trained on the dark road outside. In the year and a half that he and Isabelle had been married, she had never disappeared like this. She always left a note, even if she was just going down the street to get milk or eggs or coffee.

And Alex never realized how much he had appreciated that until this moment.

Jackie burst through the front door, and Alex whipped around, thinking that it was Isabelle. “Anything?” she asked, coming straight over to the chair Alex was sitting in. He shook his head, not able to form a word. Jackie rubbed his back, perching on the edge of the armchair. “You need sleep,” she said, her tone mothering. He shook his head. “Alex, seriously. Go to sleep. Mark and I will stay up, in case she calls or comes home. And tomorrow we can re-evaluate.”

He didn’t know how he managed to fall asleep. There was a lot of tossing and turning. He kept rolling over, expecting to feel her warmth next to him. But eventually, he passed out, on top of the blankets, ready to jump up if he had to.

“He’s out,” Jackie reported to Mark, after glancing into the master bedroom and seeing Alex asleep. “Do you know what happened?”

Mark shook his head. “I didn’t ask.”

“I feel so helpless.”

“I know. Me too.”

The two of them stayed up all night, dozing off occasionally. But in the morning, Isabelle was still missing. Alex woke up as soon as the sun started to filter in through his window. He jumped up, immediately seeing that Isabelle was not on her side of the bed. He ran out to the living room, and before he could even ask, Jackie shook her head. “Nothing,” she told him. “Maddie called and said she didn’t have any luck. Jack and Dayo stopped by about three hours ago. Amandla and Leven texted.” She stopped, seeing the look on Alex’s face. “I think it’s time to go back to the police, Alex.”

Jackie drove Alex and Mark to the San Francisco Police Department. Alex shifted in his seat the entire ride there, clearly uncomfortable and fidgety and miserable. Mark put his hand on Alex’s shoulder from the back seat. “We’ll find her. Don’t worry.”

Alex stormed into the police station, demanding to talk to someone. He was sent to Detective Support and Vice Division, where an officer took him into a small room, sitting him down and telling him to calm down, that they needed to get as much information from him as possible. He told them that his wife had been gone for over a day, and that he had looked everywhere, called everyone he could think of. The officer asked him a bunch of questions: Isabelle’s age, height, weight, hair and eye color, distinguishing characteristics. Alex answered, twisting his hands in his lap. The officer took Alex’s phone number, and gave him a business card in case he had any questions. He promised he would call as soon as he knew anything.

**I remember that day like it was yesterday. I got home from filming, and all of the lights in the house were off. Everything was lit up by candles, hundreds of them, spread across the kitchen table and the counters and the desk in the kitchen.**

**“Belle?” I threw my coat across a chair, looking around. “Belle, I’m home!”**

**You popped out of nowhere, a huge smile across your face. “Hi, baby! I made dinner.”**

**And sure enough, there was a roast chicken sitting on the counter, along with mashed potatoes, bread rolls, and cherry pie. “Looks good. What’s the occasion?”**

**“Come on, come on, come on.” You pushed me into a chair, putting a plate in front of me.**

**“Belle.” I grabbed your arm, pulling me over towards me. “Tell me what’s going on.”**

**“Okay, okay, okay.” You stood up, running into the bathroom and coming out with something behind your back. You set something down on the table in front of me, and before I even had a chance to process what it was, you blurted out, “I’m pregnant!”**

**“Oh my God.” I looked up at you, my heart skipping a beat. “Oh my God, babe, are you serious?” I glanced down at the table, looking at the pink plus sign. “Oh my God!” I jumped up, wrapping my arms around you. You fit perfectly, barely coming up to my chest. “Oh my God, we’re having a baby!”**

**“We’re having a baby!” you squealed.**

**I lifted you up, spinning you around, and I felt tears running down my face. When I put you down, I could see that you were crying too. I had never been happier. Other than our wedding day, it was the best day of my entire life.**

Jackie and Mark sat down in the Ludwigs’ living room, facing Alex, who had settled back into Isabelle’s chair. “Can you tell us what happened?” Jackie asked softly, swallowing nervously.

Alex was silent for a little bit. “I just… I need her to come back. I can’t go through this without her.”

“Go through what?” Mark asked.

**I walked into the nursery a couple of weeks later – because that’s what it was now: a nursery. Crazy. You were standing there in one of my old t-shirts, a roller of paint in your hand. There were two stripes of color on the wall in front of you. You turned around when you realized I was standing there.**

**“What do you think, babe?” You pointed to the wall. “Left or right?”**

**I pointed at the pale yellow on the left. “I like this one.”**

**“Really?” You tilted your head, staring at the wall. “Not the green?”**

**I laughed. “You pick whichever one you want. I like them both.”**

**“Okay,” you said, pressing the roller back into the tin of light green paint. “Green it is.”**

So Alex told them. He told them everything, up until the moment she had left. After he finished, Jackie and Mark were speechless. Jackie wanted to speak, but she couldn’t form any words, and she felt like when she opened her mouth, the wrong thing might come out. And clearly, Alex needed all the love and support he could get right now.

“This is a tough situation,” Mark finally managed to say, and Jackie nodded, leaning forward. “We are absolutely here for you, but this is tough. And maybe she needs to work through it in her own way.”

Jackie spoke up, her voice barely above a whisper, and Alex had to strain to hear what she was saying.

“There comes a time in your life when it’s time to let go,” she said.

“I can’t do that.” Alex raised his voice. “I don’t want people to be asking me down the road how I let her go. I can’t just do that.”

“I know.” Jackie’s voice was soothing. Mark glanced at her, clearing his throat. “But she’ll come back to you. She’s supposed to be in your life. You two were meant to be together from the beginning. She’ll come back.”

**You were lying on your back on the table, your shirt pulled up to reveal your stomach. There was no physical sign of a baby yet, but we knew there was one there. “Okay,” the ultrasound tech said, smoothing the gel across your stomach. “Here we go.” She turned the monitor toward us, and a picture appeared. It was black and white and grainy, and I had no idea what I was looking at, but I knew it was the first glimpse I was getting of our son or daughter. The ultrasound tech was quiet, shifting the wand. “Excuse me one second.” She turned off the monitor, leaving the room quickly and shutting the door behind her. We barely had time to say anything before a doctor entered the room and went through the same steps.**

**I don’t remember much after that. Everything was fuzzy and grainy, like the picture had been. I remember the look on your face though, the pure shock, and then the grief. I remember hearing the doctor say there was no reason for this, that we hadn’t done anything wrong, that we could try again in a couple of months. I remember thinking about the room upstairs, freshly painted, the crib we had ordered, the excitement on your mom and Madeline’s faces when we had told them.**

**Two days later, you were gone.**


	2. Chapter 2

**The first time I talked to you, you took my breath away. Literally.**

**We were filming The Hunger Games, back eight years ago. I slept through my alarm, and ended up running into the training center ten minutes late. You were standing in a group with everyone, listening to Gary talk, and I snuck up behind you, trying to pretend like I had been there the entire time. When Gary dismissed everyone, you whirled around, running right into me and knocking the wind out of me.**

**“Oh my God, I am so sorry!”**

**“Hey,” I wheezed, bending over and putting my hands on my knees. As soon as I could take a breath, I said, “Hey, I’m Alex.”**

**“I’m Isabelle.” You beamed at me, and I knew at that moment that I was in love.**

Three days passed before Alex heard anything from the police. Every time the phone rang, he jumped for it, sure that it was Isabelle calling to tell him she was coming home, that she was sorry. But every time it was Madeline or Jack or Leven, asking if there was any news. And there wasn’t.

He barely slept. He barely ate. He called Isabelle’s phone at least twice every half hour. After the first day, it started going straight to voicemail, turned off or dead. So he sat around, wondering what he could have done differently, what might bring her home. Jackie and Mark came over every day, to make sure he was eating.

Then finally, the investigator called. And at the words “we found her,” Alex was standing up, car keys already in hand, ready to go get her, to bring her home. As soon as he got off the phone with the detective, he called Jackie.

Forty minutes later, Mark dropped him off at SFO. He ran in the doors, seeing Jackie standing there with her bag in hand. And together, they bought tickets to North Carolina.

**When we got home from the doctor’s office, you went straight to our room, closed the door, and didn’t come out for twenty-four hours. I tried to get you to come downstairs, but you wouldn’t come out from under the blankets. I tried to bring you food, but you didn’t touch it. I even offered to take you to Neptune’s, but you would not move.**

**So I did the only thing I could think of to do: I called Jackie. She came over right away, and the two of you locked yourselves in our room for a few hours. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know what she said to you. But then you came out, which is more than I could get you to do.**

**I remember coming downstairs the morning you left and seeing you sitting at the kitchen table. You were just staring off into the distance, and I knew you weren’t really in our kitchen. You were somewhere far away, and it didn’t matter how many times I said your name – you didn’t hear me.**

**I wanted to be strong for you, but I could barely even be strong for myself.**

**The first night I couldn’t sleep. I can’t sleep without you, and you weren’t letting me into our bedroom. I laid down on the couch for a while, trying to watch TV, but I couldn’t focus and I couldn’t fall asleep. So I went into our baby’s room. I sat down in the rocking chair and looked around, at the walls you so carefully painted, the furniture we bought together, the crib where our baby was supposed to be.**

**I ended up falling asleep in that rocking chair, slipping out quietly as the sun started to rise, in case you looked in.**

**But you didn’t. You didn’t open the door once.**

The plane landed on the runway with a screech, bouncing once on impact. Jackie cleared her throat, jerking Alex awake. He had been sleeping with his head against the cold plastic of the window. “Are we here?” he mumbled, rubbing a hand over his face. He hadn’t been sleeping well since the day she had taken off, and when he sat down on the plane, he didn’t think he would be able to sleep then either, but as soon as they reached cruising altitude, he was out.

"We’re here,” Jackie informed him, clicking open her seatbelt and standing up, flipping up the door on the overhead bin and grabbing her bag. “Are you ready?”

Three hours later, they were in Asheville, and all of the memories came flooding back. The first thing Alex and Jackie did was drive to the hotel where they had all stayed. It seemed like the most obvious spot.

**You said it first.**

**The day you admitted how you felt about me, we were at the hotel. We had just finished a long day of filming, and I was exhausted. I was lying in bed, and I didn’t even have enough energy to grab the remote and turn on the television. Every single muscle in my body ached. And then I heard a knock on the door.**

**We were so young. When I think back to that day, I remember how tiny you looked when you walked into my room. You sat down on my bed, pulling your legs up to your chest.**

**We had been filming for almost two months, and I spent every single day with you, ever since the very first night. I was one hundred percent positive that I was in love with you. I knew it right away, and my feelings only continued to get stronger. But I didn’t know how you felt, so I kept my feelings bottled up inside, telling only Jack and Dayo what I thought about you.**

**So when you sat on my bed that night, your chin propped on your knees, I knew you were going to say something important. “Alex.” Your voice was soft and comfortable. I couldn’t even tell that you were nervous, even though you told me much later that you could barely breathe. And then you told me that you loved me. Not like a brother, not like a friend. You said you were in love.**

**You took my breath away, and you have continued to do that every day since then.**

**I told you I felt the same way. I told you I loved you for the very first time.**

**And then you went quiet, and when you spoke again, my heart stopped. “You know that feeling you get when a relationship is just starting out?” you said. “You’re hopeful and optimistic, and everything is bright and perfect.”**

**“Yeah,” I said, waiting for you to continue.**

**“I don’t feel like that. I’m not hopeful or optimistic.” I just stared at you. I thought that probably wasn’t a good sign. But then you kept talking. “Because I am sure. I am confident. I know this is going to work, because you were my best friend first. And I know I could literally put my life in your hands and still trust you completely.”**

**I leaned forward and pulled you to me, kissing you for the first time.**

“Do you think she left?” Alex asked, getting back in the car and putting it in gear. He backed out onto the main road, driving back into town. He drove past the restaurants they went to, all of the shops on the main road.

“No, she’s here somewhere,” Jackie said, resting her head against the window. “I know she is.”

“How do you know?”

Jackie was silent for a long time, and then she spoke up, her voice quiet. “Do you remember what Is always used to say whenever you two had a fight?” She didn’t let me answer. “Hearts will never be practical until the day that they are made unbreakable. She was absolutely sure that your relationship was strong enough to last through anything. She said that every time you guys had a fight, you got through it because you loved each other so much so that the way you felt for each other cut through all of the bullshit.”

Alex looked over at her, pulling on to the interstate, almost instinctively. “Yeah” was all he could say.

“You loved each other through everything. You’ll get through this too.”

“What if she just can’t be with me?”

“You fight for her!” Jackie grabbed his arm, jerking the wheel a little bit. “You two have been together since forever. You are not just giving up. I won’t let you.”

“You said it first, “Alex said quietly. “Sometimes you have to know when to let go.”

“Yeah, you have to know,” Jackie said, her voice stern. “You have to know the right time, and now is not the right time. When I said that, I meant that she needed her time. She needed a few days. But she also needs you.” She paused. “She’s always needed you.”

Without even thinking about it, Alex and Jackie ended up at the lake twenty minutes away from Asheville. When they had been filming, Alex and Isabelle went to the lake at least once a week. It was their special place.

They pulled up to the lake, and sure enough…

There she was.

**“You nervous, bro?” Dayo hit me in the shoulder. I glared at him, shifting nervously back and forth in the passenger seat of Dayo’s car. Jack was behind me, laughing.**

**“I am not nervous,” I said, cracking my neck. “I don’t get nervous.”**

**Jack snorted. “You are freaking out. I can tell.”**

**We walked into the restaurant and saw everyone already there, seated in the back room: you, Leven, Madeline, Amandla, your parents, Jackie, Mark, and even my entire family, who had flown down for the weekend. I told you they were just visiting.**

**You had no idea what was going on.**

**I sat down next to you, kissing you on the cheek. You looked beautiful. Everyone was dressed up, and your hair was down around your shoulders, the paler highlights shimmering in the flickering light from the candles in front of us. “Hello, beautiful,” I said. You smiled at me, your eyes sparkling.**

**Throughout the entire dinner, my heart was pounding. I was sure you would be able to hear it. You held my hand on top of the table, squeezing it every now and then. Being around our family and friends was always our favorite thing to do. Everyone was loud and happy and there was so much love. That’s why I decided this is how I wanted to do it.**

**Dayo stood up, hitting his glass with his knife. He cleared his throat a couple of times and everyone looked at him, and I knew it was time. “I think Alex has something he wants to say.”**

**Everyone turned their gaze to me, and I could feel a blush creeping up my neck. I pushed my chair back, turning to you, and as we were surrounded by our family and friends, I got down on one knee.**

**“Isabelle,” I said, and I could already see your eyes filling with tears. “I knew from the second I met you that you were my soul mate. You were my best friend, and then my girlfriend. You are the love of my life, my angel, the person I want to spend the rest of my life with.” You blinked, and the tears spilled down your cheeks. “So will you marry me?”**

**“Yes.” There was no hesitation. You leaned forward, putting your arms around my neck. “Yes, Alex, of course.”**

**I hugged you tightly, knowing that I would never have to let go again, that you would be by my side for the rest of my life. Madeline started cheering and everyone was freaking out, and I was just so happy.**

**“To Alex and Isabelle!” Leven raised her glass.**

**“To Alex and Isabelle!”**

Jackie tried to calm him down, but as soon as he saw Isabelle sitting underneath the tree, he was out of the car. He left it running, keys in the ignition, jumping out and running over to her.

“Belle,” he yelled as soon as he was within shouting distance, and she turned. “Belle, oh my God.”

Jackie didn’t know what she expected. The last time she had talked to Isabelle, the night Alex called her to do damage control, she found out Isabelle was thinking about leaving. She just didn’t think Isabelle would actually do it. But Jackie was absolutely sure that she needed time to herself. So when she saw Isabelle jump up and run to Alex, jumping into his arms, all she felt was relief.

“Belle,” Alex whispered, holding her tight so that she wouldn’t let go again. She started crying immediately. He just kept saying her name over and over again, his face buried in her hair, his tears mixing with hers.

“I’m sorry.” Her voice broke. “I didn’t know what to do.”

“You can’t do that again, Belle,” he said, pulling back to look at her. “You can’t shut me out. You can’t just take off.”

Isabelle leaned forward, framing his face with her hands and kissing him, tears still falling down her face. “I’m sorry,” she repeated. “I’m so sorry.”

**We stayed in Asheville for three more days, revisiting the hotel and the set, where the training center was still standing, and even hiking out into the woods where the Cornucopia had been. In those few days, we relived that summer, spending time at the place where everything had started.**

**The entire time, we talked about what had happened. Before you left, before you took off, you wouldn’t say a word to me. I didn’t know how badly you were hurting. I didn’t know how to help you. All I knew was the pain I was feeling, and I didn’t know how to be there for you.**

**You forgave me. And I forgave you.**

**Jackie was right. Our love was strong enough to get us through anything. It was unbreakable.**

**You came home with me, holding my hand on the plane, not letting go even once. You apologized to everyone, and they understood. No one blamed you for a thing. And you never left me again.**

Alex leaned back on the grass, watching his friends and family, gathered together in their backyard. Jack and Jackie couldn’t let go of each other, and Alex grinned, remembering when he and Isabelle were still newlyweds. The two had been married only two weeks before, almost exactly three years after Alex and Isabelle’s wedding.

Isabelle’s parents were there, as well as Madeline, Leven, and Dayo. Jen and Amandla were on their way. The dogs were running around the yard, and everyone was laughing and having a good time.

Every now and then, Alex thought about that day two years ago, when he had woken up and realized that his wife was not home. But he realized now how much stronger it had made them. He realized that their love truly was unbreakable.

Isabelle came over to him, sitting down on the grass next to him. “Here you go, babe,” she said, and he took his daughter from her, cradling him next to his chest. He looked over at his wife, smiling, watching her as she held their son, the other twin.

“I love you,” Isabelle said, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

“I love you too,” Alex answered. “Forever.”

“Forever.”


End file.
